NUREYEV: Master of dance bids audiences farewell

Press, 28 April 1989, Page 23

NUREYEV: Master of dance bids audiences farewell

By

ANABRIGHT HAY

Rudolf hametovich NUREYEV, widely considered the greatest male dancer of the last 40 years, will perform in Christchurch on Thursday at the James Hay Theatre. What can those fortunate -enough to have tickets for this show expect to see? Obviously not the type of performance that he gave in Europe in the 1960 s after his now legendary leap to dance freedom in the West. (Nureyev made his bid for political asylum at a French airport in 1961).

But what can be seen now is still magic, and perhaps is even greater. It is the artistry and ( perfection of movement that is the culmination of one of the greatest dance careers in living memory. It is a career that has had Nureyev leave his native Russia in a quest for dance knowledge, experience and excellence, all of which are still very much in evidence. His is an achievement which . young dancers in ballet schools world wide strive for, but which only a few with the innate ability, determination and personality ever reach.

Thursday night’s programme is a composite showcase of some of the works that have shaped his highly versatile career, one which has included choreography as well as dancing. This is a “farewell” tour, an indication perhaps that more will be seen of Nureyev’s choreographic skill and ability to teach and artistically direct in the second half of his life. Even at the height of his dance career he choreographed a number of ballets, productions which are firmly established in the repertoires of some of the world’s big ballet companies. At present he is the artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet Company, which is based at the Paris Opera House. He is accompanied on this tour by six dancers from that company. On Thursday he will dance with them in some pieces, and in others they will dance alone. The programme is similar to that presented by Nureyev at the gala opening of the International Festival of the Arts in Wellington last year. “Napoli" and “Flower Festival in Genzano” are choreographed by Auguste Bournonville, dancer,

choreographer and ballet master of the Royal Danish Ballet for many years

Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” has a long ballet history. Beginning with a danced version by Noverre in the mid-eighteenth century, the story has attracted dancers and choreographers many times. The two principal dance versions are choreographed by Marius Petipa and George Balanchine. Nureyev produced his version of the Petipa ballet for the Vienna State Opera in 1966 and danced in it. In 1970, he staged his version of the ballet with the Australian Ballet. In 1972, Nureyev and Robert Helpmann made a film of his production. "Apollon Musagete," choreographed by Balanchine, is based on the story of the Greek god, Apollo. It was first presented by Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris in 1928. Balanchine’s “Apollon Musagete” is the height of modern classicism, with Apollo surrounded and extended by his contact with the Three Muses.

“The Moor’s Pavane” has been acknowledged as a master work of modern dance. It has been performed in the United States and abroad for many years by the choreographer of the work, Jose Limon, and his company. The spectator is expected to be familiar with Shakespeare’s "Othello.” .All the sub-plots and non-essentials are eliminated, and in a stately quadrille, the four principal characters dance a minuet of love, comradeship, inflamed jealousy, betrayal, death and discovery.

“The Moor’s Pavane” was first presented by Limon and .his company in the United States in 1949. It is one of the many roles in Nureyev’s repertoire. There have been many productions of the Petipa classic ballet, “The Sleeping Beauty.” Nureyev first staged the ballet independently for La Scala, Milan, in 1970, with himself and Fonteyn in the leading roles. Thursday’s performance from the ballet will show the result of his collaboration with the original choreographer. Songs Of A‘Wayfarer (“Chant du Campagnon Errant”), choreographed by Maurice Bejart, was first presented by the Ballet of the Twentieth Century in Brussels. Nureyev danced in the premiere in 1971.